Wayne Brown is thrilled that Maldon & Tiptree’s FA Cup journey continued thanks to a massive cup upset with a 2-1 victory at League Two Leyton Orient.
The non-league side from the eighth tier were good value for their win despite soaking up constant pressure in the second-half.
“We put bodies on the line in the box in the second-half especially to keep it down to 2-1 and you need a bit of luck,” he said. “You need that in every game but I think we had the luck today.
“I was disappointed with the red card (for Danny Parish) because I thought that it was a penalty for us but I need to have a look at that again.”
Brown insists Maldon & Tiptree’s 100% record this season is down to preparation.
“We take one game at a time and make sure that we are fully prepared mentally and physically,” Brown added.
“And the lads have shown they’ve got a really good mentality that they don’t want to lose football matches.
“We take that into every game whether it be league or cup, they’ve had the right approach.
“I’ve no preference who we get in the second round because I’m just happy to get through. It doesn’t matter who we get because the journey continues. But a big team away or anyone at home would be great.”
Maldon, urged on by more than 600 fans, finished with 10 men after hero Parish had been sent off for a second yellow card. He had brought the cup dream alive for the Jammers when he scored on 43 minutes with a superb shot.
Jorome Slew added a second on 65 minutes before Orient pulled a goal back through substitute James Dayton within two minutes but the Essex non-leaguers were not to be denied their deserved glory.
Orient’s boss Carl Fletcher reflected: “Any defeat hurts and you always know that FA Cup games bring potential banana skins but I am really disappointed.
“We had lots of possession and lots of chances but there is a lot to improve on.”
“We have to win these games and today was not good enough but credit to Maldon & Tiptree. There is a lot of things to improve on and sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture but at the moment we are really disappointed and that is not something we want going forward.
“You always have to match the opposition for work rate, desire and hunger and I think that is standard against whoever you’re playing. It is something that we are in the process of looking to improve.
“We had plenty of chances and fair play to the opposition who defended incredibly well when we added a lot of pressure towards the end.”